Knowledge and Awareness of Obstructive Sleep Apnea among the Population of the Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Abstract Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleep disease that causes a person to consciously breathe and have episodes during sleep in which airflow either completely stops or significantly slows down. The epidemiology and awareness of this disease is understudied in our region. In the present study, we aimed to examine the knowledge and awareness of OSA among the general population of the Southwestern region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, which was carried out from March to November 2022, data were collected from the adult population of the Jazan region using a self-administered questionnaire and presented as frequencies and percentages for categorical variables. Descriptive analysis, t-test, and Chi-square test were used for analysis. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The number of participants in the study was 523, of which 30% were aware of OSA. Poor knowledge was reported among the participants regarding the complications of OSA, and some participants identified that stroke (38%), diabetes (13.4%), dementia (10.3%), and myocardial infarction (30%) are complications of OSA. Those between 18 and 29 years were most aware of OSA, and males’ knowledge was better than that of females. Conclusion About 40% of the included participants were aware of OSA, and most had poor knowledge. We found that most people have no reliable sources of information, and medical professionals need to put more effort toward raising people’s awareness of OSA. Further studies with a larger population are required to evaluate OSA’s awareness level.